Armless driver says he's at the end of the road

Michael Wiley demonstrates how he drives at his Port Richey home. Wiley, who is missing both arms and a leg, taught himself to drive using his stumps, toes and teeth.

ZACH BOYDEN-HOLMES/ST. PETERSBURG TIMES/JUNE 2006

BY PHIL DAVISTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Thursday, August 2, 2007 at 12:24 a.m.

LAND O' LAKES - There was a time when nothing could keep Michael Francis Wiley from behind the wheel - not even a triple amputation that makes simple tasks like tying a shoe impossible. Nor the police, who busted Wiley so many times it is now a felony for him to drive.
Wiley lost both arms and a leg in an electrical accident and taught himself to drive using his stumps, toes and teeth. But now he is at the end of the road: he is scheduled to face a judge Friday for sentencing on a half-dozen felony traffic and drug possession charges. It's the latest in more than two decades of clashes with the law, and prosecutors are asking for five years in prison.
"I'm beat. The white flag is up," said Wiley, 40, from behind thick glass in the Pasco County Jail. "You can only bang your head against the wall so long before it hurts."
He has been locked up without bond since he led police on a high-speed chase in May.
Most of Wiley's troubles can be traced back to a 1980 accident. He was 13. He fell off an elevated train platform while fooling around at an abandoned switching station in New York City. He grabbed a live electrical line to break his fall and touched metal while trying to regain his footing. Roughly 11,000 volts of electricity surged through his arms and legs.
He broke his back and injured his neck when he hit the ground 25 feet below. Doctors amputated both of his badly burned arms. They also removed most of his left leg.
Wiley now mostly lives off a settlement from the railroad company and works some odd jobs. He said he turned to drugs - both prescription and illegal - to numb the chronic pain.
He learned to live without limbs. He taught himself to drive. He starts the car with his toes, shifts with his knee and steers with the stump of his left arm. He turns on the lights with his teeth.
"I'm an excellent driver," Wiley said. "It is something I can do well by myself. I've been thoroughly tested by the department of motor vehicles and I passed with flying colors."
He once had a valid license, but it has now been suspended several times since 1985, according to his attorney. So far, that hasn't stopped him from driving.
His favorite cars are Chevrolet Corvettes and "old school Camaros." He was in a Corvette in 1998 when he led police on a chase at more than 100 mph. He kicked a Florida Highway Patrol trooper investigating a 1996 crash in which he was suspected of driving, records show.
Wiley spent more than three years in prison, where a specially trained inmate helped him eat, get dressed and handle the most basic tasks, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. He was released in June 2005 but didn't stay out of trouble long.
His 11-page Florida Department of Law Enforcement criminal history shows charges ranging from misdemeanor marijuana possession to habitually driving without a license, a felony.
"It's totally my fault. I'm just hardheaded," Wiley said of his clashes with the law.
His parents moved with him to Pasco County on Florida's Gulf Coast while he was still a teenager. Wiley quickly found the rough crowd who live on the fringes between the area's retirement havens and sprawling suburbs in Tampa's shadows.
Wiley was already facing felony charges of driving without a license on May 8 when a police officer spotted him behind the wheel of a blue Ford Explorer at a New Port Richey convenience store. The officer told him to wait while he ran a license check.
Wiley put the truck in gear and sped off, according to the arrest report. Officers pursued, but called off the chase because the Ford was zipping through oncoming traffic in a "reckless" manner. Wiley was arrested the next day and charged with fleeing.
Wiley won't discuss the specifics of his case, but said fear of drug withdrawal is one of the reasons he fled.
"It's pretty much why I ran. The detox process gets worse every time," Wiley said, adding he was hospitalized with a 106-degree fever after his May arrest.
In June, Wiley entered a no contest plea to a variety of driving and drug charges. He plans to ask the judge for mercy and hopes to get sentenced to a drug treatment program. But his attorney, John Hooker of Tampa, said it is unlikely Wiley will avoid a prison sentence.
"It's sad to say. I just hope the system has not given up on him," Hooker said this week. "He hasn't hurt anyone but himself and his family."
Whatever happens next, Wiley plans to eventually go somewhere far from the international publicity surrounding his driving exploits. Somewhere police and locals don't know him on sight.
"I don't like the idea that I'm Pasco County's most notorious driver. That's hype," Wiley said. "I'm not public enemy No. 1. I'm just a regular guy with some handicaps. I made a few mistakes. I'm sorry and I'm paying for them."

LAND O' LAKES - There was a time when nothing could keep Michael Francis Wiley from behind the wheel - not even a triple amputation that makes simple tasks like tying a shoe impossible. Nor the police, who busted Wiley so many times it is now a felony for him to drive.<BR>
Wiley lost both arms and a leg in an electrical accident and taught himself to drive using his stumps, toes and teeth. But now he is at the end of the road: he is scheduled to face a judge Friday for sentencing on a half-dozen felony traffic and drug possession charges. It's the latest in more than two decades of clashes with the law, and prosecutors are asking for five years in prison.<BR>
"I'm beat. The white flag is up," said Wiley, 40, from behind thick glass in the Pasco County Jail. "You can only bang your head against the wall so long before it hurts."<BR>
He has been locked up without bond since he led police on a high-speed chase in May.<BR>
Most of Wiley's troubles can be traced back to a 1980 accident. He was 13. He fell off an elevated train platform while fooling around at an abandoned switching station in New York City. He grabbed a live electrical line to break his fall and touched metal while trying to regain his footing. Roughly 11,000 volts of electricity surged through his arms and legs.<BR>
He broke his back and injured his neck when he hit the ground 25 feet below. Doctors amputated both of his badly burned arms. They also removed most of his left leg.<BR>
Wiley now mostly lives off a settlement from the railroad company and works some odd jobs. He said he turned to drugs - both prescription and illegal - to numb the chronic pain.<BR>
He learned to live without limbs. He taught himself to drive. He starts the car with his toes, shifts with his knee and steers with the stump of his left arm. He turns on the lights with his teeth.<BR>
"I'm an excellent driver," Wiley said. "It is something I can do well by myself. I've been thoroughly tested by the department of motor vehicles and I passed with flying colors."<BR>
He once had a valid license, but it has now been suspended several times since 1985, according to his attorney. So far, that hasn't stopped him from driving.<BR>
His favorite cars are Chevrolet Corvettes and "old school Camaros." He was in a Corvette in 1998 when he led police on a chase at more than 100 mph. He kicked a Florida Highway Patrol trooper investigating a 1996 crash in which he was suspected of driving, records show.<BR>
Wiley spent more than three years in prison, where a specially trained inmate helped him eat, get dressed and handle the most basic tasks, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. He was released in June 2005 but didn't stay out of trouble long.<BR>
His 11-page Florida Department of Law Enforcement criminal history shows charges ranging from misdemeanor marijuana possession to habitually driving without a license, a felony.<BR>
"It's totally my fault. I'm just hardheaded," Wiley said of his clashes with the law.<BR>
His parents moved with him to Pasco County on Florida's Gulf Coast while he was still a teenager. Wiley quickly found the rough crowd who live on the fringes between the area's retirement havens and sprawling suburbs in Tampa's shadows.<BR>
Wiley was already facing felony charges of driving without a license on May 8 when a police officer spotted him behind the wheel of a blue Ford Explorer at a New Port Richey convenience store. The officer told him to wait while he ran a license check.<BR>
Wiley put the truck in gear and sped off, according to the arrest report. Officers pursued, but called off the chase because the Ford was zipping through oncoming traffic in a "reckless" manner. Wiley was arrested the next day and charged with fleeing.<BR>
Wiley won't discuss the specifics of his case, but said fear of drug withdrawal is one of the reasons he fled.<BR>
"It's pretty much why I ran. The detox process gets worse every time," Wiley said, adding he was hospitalized with a 106-degree fever after his May arrest.<BR>
In June, Wiley entered a no contest plea to a variety of driving and drug charges. He plans to ask the judge for mercy and hopes to get sentenced to a drug treatment program. But his attorney, John Hooker of Tampa, said it is unlikely Wiley will avoid a prison sentence.<BR>
"It's sad to say. I just hope the system has not given up on him," Hooker said this week. "He hasn't hurt anyone but himself and his family."<BR>
Whatever happens next, Wiley plans to eventually go somewhere far from the international publicity surrounding his driving exploits. Somewhere police and locals don't know him on sight.<BR>
"I don't like the idea that I'm Pasco County's most notorious driver. That's hype," Wiley said. "I'm not public enemy No. 1. I'm just a regular guy with some handicaps. I made a few mistakes. I'm sorry and I'm paying for them."<BR>